Reciprocating bed



1951 J. v. HENDERSON 2,570,676

RECIPROCATING BED Filed Dec. 14, 1950 i 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY Oct.9, 1951 J. v. HENDERSON RECIPROCATING BED 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.14, 1950 INVENTOR JE/fZ/Q W Jierz d'eruon ATTORNEY Patented Get. 9, 1951PATENT: OEFLCE 2,570,676: RECIPROCATING BED JohnV."Henderson;BirminghamyrAla Application Deoemlieril l, 1950-; SerialNo;200i74 4 claims (Cl. 12833) This invention: relates to recirocatinghedi' andit' comprises a therapeutic bedadapte'dto' reciprocatetransversely ata predeterminedrate and through an adjustable distance,said bed comprisinga base frame-withmeans 'for coupling itLto the.headandf'foot boards of a conventional. bfedstieadQa pair ofti ansverseend'rail'sfcrming; part'of said frame andimounted'between' said couplingmeans,' tracks mounted on the upper faces of saidend"rai1's,,a pair oflongitudinal side rails mounted at a .levellbelo w that ofsaidend a llpr ghtsat"th'e'corners of said frame see ouringgthe end railsjtoithe'fside rails, a shelf mounted" on. said side rails and bridging thespacebetween. said side. rails';.meansfor produc-ling' ireoiprocatingimotion. mounted on said, shelf; a reciprocating; upper frame adapted tobe mountedlon saidibas'e frame comprising side rails andendrailsfasten'edtogether at. their ends, spaced'eapart. flanged wheels;rotatably mounted beneath the end rails of the. upper frame andf adaptedto engage and to' rollon said tracksas the solesupp'ort ofsaidupperframe, a transverse bar'attach'ed .to and mounted centrally bee neathsaid upper frame; and adjustablemeans connected between said transversebar 'and" said' reciprocating {means for transverselyjreciprocaV- ingtheupper" frame offsaid' bed with" anlaidjuste able stroke; allas'more'fiilly hereinafter. set forth; andas claimedf While'manyfdevicesfhavebeen developedifor.

rocking and" reciprocatingfcradles and childrenfsbedsfor'thepurpose'ofputting the children to sleep," it has only'recentlyf been discovered that therapeutic benefit can be' obtained.in'. the case of adnlts makingusewf'this general type of bed; notfcr asoothing efiectgbut rather for obtain-v ing bcdily'exercise. I" have"discovered a' rather simple construction for a reciprocating bed whereinmaximum benefits are *obtainedby trans-'- vers'ereoiprocation in ahorizontal plane rather than 'a' rocking, swinging, up and d'own orend-- to-end motion of the bed.- Withtransverse. re-i ciprocation thebody; tends to roll from" side. toi side" and, of course; it requiresconsiderable muscularenergy to" oppose this motion; this;

The efieots ob'tained 'are'much like those obtained from massage and itis" beneficial in all cases where manipulation and/or massage" ofthehad? or of the joints'is 'indicated. Different types of,

exercisecan beobtaine'd by lying indifferent-pro;

sitions on the bed. The body 'canhe trainedit'o relax bytesting tosee'how littleopposition" can be offered to the motiori o f thehed. v

My new reciprocatingflbed"comprises a lower or base frame adaptedto'becoupled b'etween'the head and foot'boards of a conventionalbedstead; taking the place ofthefcon'ventional side. rails; This baseframecomprisesside rails and end rails andit supports amotor; reductiongearing; and a oonnection 'for reciprocating an upper. frame. It is alsoprovidedwithtransverse tracks which are mountedonthe upper facesofit'sgend rails: Ahupperrectangular reciprocating frame is providedwhich' has-'fiangedwheels or rollers mounted underneath at its ends,these. rollers beingadapted'to' engage the tracks on the base framean'dtoconstitute -the sole supportl'for'the' upper reciprocating frame; Ihereciprocating; frame also has atransverse hair centrally mountfed; thisbeing connected" to the reciprocating means mountd on the base-frame.The reciproie eating frame is adapted' to' receivethe conventionalb'edspringsand'amattress rests on the". springs; Theconn'ectitinbetween the reciproe eating means and thereciprocating frame is: madeadjustablesothat the' length offthe stroke; can be varied. Andthe speedreducing means is; also made-adjustable so'that the rate ofreciprocation can hevaried. A'flvery simple andinexpensive constructionis thus provided whieh; however, provides maximum effectiveness for; thepurposes in question.

It is" evident that the construction: described makes use of theconventional head and'ifoot.

coupling mybase framehetween the head'fandi foot boardsytlaying thereciprocating frame over" the base frame 'withit's wheelsengagingthe'rail's of" the base frame, connecting; the'driving" link: ofithe'motor drive w the"transverseT bar of f the reciprocating frame;then replacing the springs. and mattress; After'conversion the, bed can,ofi course, be used as an ordinaryhed since 0011?.

version makes little if any difference in the height of the bed. Evenits outward appearance is the same since the base frame, motor, etc.,are well concealed. It is preferableto remove the casters from the bedto prevent it from rolling with the reciprocating motion of the upperframe and when these are removed the mattress is substantially at thesame height as before conversion.

My invention can be described in greater detail by reference to theaccompanying drawing which shows, more or less diagrammatically, apreferred embodiment of my reciprocating bed. In this showing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my bed with the reciprocating frameresting on the base of supporting frame,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the two frames,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the base board or shelf showing themotor and reciprocating mechanism mounted thereon taken approximatelyalong the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

. Fig. 4 is a vertical section showing a detail of the corner structureof the bed, taken along the line 4 -4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is another vertical section showing a detail of the cornerconstruction and taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, while Fig. 6 is aperspective partial view of one corner of the base frame showing how thetrack and bed coupling are mounted thereon.

In the various views like parts are designated by the same referencenumerals. Referring first to Fi s. 1 and 2 my bed comprises theconventional head board I and foot board 2, which, of course. may beparts of conventional metal or wooden bedsteads provided withconventional female couplings indicated generally at 3 for securingthereto the conventional side rails. In my bed the side rails are relaced by a base frame shown generally at 4 which at its four corners isprovided with standard male cou lings 5'which when secured to theconventional female couplings on the head and foot boards of the bedsupport the base frame. The base frame is formed of two lower side rails6 and'two upper end rails 1. these being rigidly connected by cornerupri hts 8. cross braces 9 and a bottom shelf ID. The rails and crossbraces of the base frame are welded or otherwise securely fastenedtogether. These elements may be angle irons. The shelf ma also be weldedor riveted to the lower side rails or it may be secured thereto by meansof screws. not shown. The end r i s of the base frame are approximatelyat or slightly below the level of the conventional side rails and theyare provided with tracks ll mounted securely on their u er faces at eachend as shown best in Fig. 6. These tracks provide means for supportingand guiding the motion of the u per or moveable frame shown generally atl2. This upper frame is merely a rectangular framework of side rails I3and end rails M which are preferably angle irons welded at the corners.A cross bar I5 is' also provided for a purpose which will appear later.This may also be an angle iron and is secured approximately centrally ofthe upper frame. Beneath the end rails at each corner of the upper framebearing brackets [6 are mounted, these forming bearings for the flangedwheels I! journaled in ball bearings which roll along the tracks H asshown best in Figs. 4 and 5. The upper frame provides support for theconventional springs 18 and mattress I9 as shown in Fig. 1.

Means for reciprocating the bed transversely are mounted on the bottomshelf 10, shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This reciprocating means comprisesa motor 20 mounted on the shelf, which through a drive pulley 30 andV-belt 2| drives a pulley 22 mounted at one end of jack shaft 23, thelatter being journaled in bearing block 24. At the other end of the jackshaft another smaller pulley 25 is mounted which through V- belt 26drives another larger pulley 21 mounted at the end of jack shaft 28which is journaled in bearing block 29. A connecting rod 3| is attachedeccentrically at one end to pulley 21 by means of a wrist pin 32 whilethe other end of the connecting rod is pivotally connected at 35 withdrive link 33. The latter is pivoted at its lower end to an anglebracket 34 while at its upper end 31 it is connected by a sliding pivotconnection 36 to cross bar l5 of the moveable frame. Connections 35 and36 are adjustable as shown'in Fig. 3 so that the distance through whichthe movable frame reciprocates can be varied to suit the condition ofthe patient and the treatment desired.

The pulleys and belts described serve as a convenient means of obtainingspeed reduction. By changing the pulleys for others of different sizethe speed reduction can be varied as desired. The bed is advantageouslyprovided with a change of pulleys of different size in order to producea range of different operating speeds. The motor is advantageously ofrelatively low speed and I have found that a A; horse power motorprovides adequate power. The stroke of the bed can be varied ratherwidely but I have obtained best results with reciprocating motionsvarying in length from about to 18 inches. With a slow period ofreciprocation and a short stroke a soothing or sleep producing effectcan be produced whereas for maximum stimulation a long stroke coupledwith a short period is used.

While I have described what I consider to be the most advantageousembodiments of my reciprocating bed it is evident, of course, thatvarious modifications can be made in the specific structures which havebeen described without departing from the purview of this invention.Thus, the constructions of both the base frame and the reciprocatingframe can be varied substantially from those shown in the drawing. Mybed can be made of either single or double width. It is only necessaryto have a base frame constructed so it will support the tracks and thereciprocating drive while the upper frame supports the bed springs onrollers operating on said tracks. In place of the pulley and beltreduction gearing shown in the drawing it is possible, of course, toemploy any other conventional speed reducing unit. I have found itadvantageous to reciprocate my bed at such a rate as to produce fromabout 24 to 800 strokes per minute. and, of course, the speed reductionunit should be selected to produce reciprocation within this range. Thebed requires no overhead suspension and it does not need to be anchoredto the floor. Other modifications of my invention which fall within thescope of the following claims will be immediately evident to thoseskilled V in this art.

What I claim is:

1. A reciprocating bed comprising a generally rectangular base framehaving two lower side rails and two upper end rails with corner uprightsjoining the ends of said rails, tracks mounted on the upper faces ofsaid end rails and means for producing reciprocating motion mountedbetween said side rails, an upper rectangular frame comprising siderails and end rails joined at their ends, at least two flanged wheelsmounted beneath said end rails and adapted to engage the tracks on thebase frame to support the upper frame, adjustable means for connectingthe upper frame with said means for producing reciprocating motiontransversely to reciprocate said upper frame, and coupling means mountedat the corners of said base frame adapting said base frame to be coupledbetween the head and foot boards of the conventional bedstead, the upperreciprocating frame being adapted to support the conventional bedsprings.

2. The reciprocating bed of claim 1 wherein the means for producingreciprocating motion comprises a motor drive including pulleys and beltsto produce speed reduction, a connecting rod attached eccentrically toone of said pulleys,

a link pivotally connected both to said base frame and saidreciprocating frame and means for adjustably attaching said connectingrod to said link to reciprocate the same.

3. The reciprocating bed of claim 2 wherein said motor drive is mountedon a shelf mounted on and bridging the space between the side rails ofsaid base frame, and cross braces are provided running from the upperends of said uprights to the side rails to provide support for the shelfand motor drive.

4. The reciprocating bed of claim 1 wherein the reciprocating meansoperates at a speed within the range of from about 24 to 800 strokes perminute, the strokes having a length varying from about A; to 18 inches.

JOHN V. HENDERSON.

No references cited.

